Duke basketball vs. Maryland live updates

Duke 74, Maryland 83 (FINAL): Seth Curry's timely three-pointer from the top of the key brough Duke within six points. On Duke's next possession, Thornton had two very good looks from beyond the arc, but he could not hit it—the story of tonight for Duke. Maryland, meanwhile, continued to play aggressively and make the Blue Devils pay at the charity stripe to pull off the upset for the Terrapins.

Duke 62, Maryland 69 (3:26, second half): The cold shooting continues for the Blue Devils. Thornton missed badly on an open trey from the wing and later Kelly failed to convert on a three-point attempt from the left wing. Maryland continues to play aggressively and has Duke on its heels down the stretch. Two free-throws by Curry and a lay-up by Cook brought Duke within nine points. Two more free-throws, another nifty lay-up by Cook and lay-up by Plumlee have reduced the Terps' lead to just seven points. Wells comes up limping before the media timeout for Maryland.

Duke 52, Maryland 59 (7:39, second half): Like he did in the first half, 'Sheed is showing offensive aggression. He now has two second-half buckets, giving him 16 points on the evening.

But Maryland took advantage of a mismatch on a switch, allowing Nick Faust to hit an open 3-pointer and opening the lead back up to seven. After Hairston responded with two free throws, Alex Len threw home a slam, putting the Terrapin fans back on their feet.

Duke is showing hustle, but they still can't make their shots. Now 2-of-16 from beyond the arc. Much different game if they're hitting a normal percentage, which would be closer to six or seven made shots in that many attempts.

Duke 46, Maryland 50 (11:51, second half): Though it's a bit strange 'Sheed didn't play for the first 4:51 minutes of the half, Thornton made a key layup, bringing Duke within two, the first time since early in the first half Duke has been that close.

'Sheed eventually checked in for Cook with 15:09.

The Blue Devils brought the game within one after a three-point play from Kelly, making the score 45-44. That's when the Duke fans got loud. They got loud once again after Plumlee hit two free throws to again bring the game within one. Plumlee now leads the Blue Devils with 13 points, six of which have come off emphatic dunks.

But in what could be the turning point of this game, Curry nailed a 3-pointer and was fouled, converting for the four-point play and bringing the Blue Devils within six. That got the Duke fans on their feet. Curry and Kelly need to get going for this game to even up.

Seth then hit a jumper to bring Duke within four, forcing Mark Turgeon to call a timeout.

Notable that 'Sheed, after scoring 12 in the first half, didn't start this half. He hasn't checked in yet either. Thornton started the game, but after such a strong performance, you'd think 'Sheed might be rewarded with some minutes.

Duke 26, Maryland 34 (HALFTIME): A sign of change toward the end of the half? Thornton got on the board with his first points and Duke's first 3-pointer of the game, bringing Duke within four. Faust responded with a trey on the ensuing possession, but a three for Duke is bigger than one for Maryland—the Blue Devils need to get hot from beyond the arc to atone for their early game struggles.

Overall now, the Terrapins are 6-of-13 from beyond the arc, Duke is 1-for-10, closing the half out with a missed trey by Cook.

'Sheed added another jumper and now has 12 points off the bench. Think he starts in the second half?

Key halftime stats:

• Duke 10-of-30 (33%) from the field.
• Duke 1-of-10 (10%) from 3-point range, Maryland 6-of-13 (46.2%).
• 0 points for Seth Curry.
• Rasheed Sulaimon 4-of-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
• Dez Wells with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

Duke 21, Maryland 28 (3:01, first half): Ryan Kelly became the next Blue Devil to get on the board with an acrobatic and-one, finishing a no-look layup through contact and hitting the foul shot. That brought the Blue Devils within nine, then Cook hit a floater to bring the game within seven, energizing the Duke crowd.

Naturally, Dez Wells responded with the game's next points, though Plumlee put home his second slam of the night to keep it within seven.

Both teams really worked frantically in transition for a few consecutive possessions, though neither team was able to convert. In that span, Kelly missed another 3-pointer–he's now 0-for-3 from deep. Overall, Duke is 0-for-7 on 3-pointers. That has to change from them to turn this game around.

Duke 14, Maryland 24 (7:53, first half): Think 'Sheed was looking to come out aggressively after he began the second consecutive game on the bench? The freshman has 10 points already and is looking to create every time he touches the ball.

The most impressive of those, thus far, was a drive with the shot clock winding down in which he sliced and diced his way through a few Terrapins to make a pretty lay-in.

The question is, can anybody help 'Sheed? He has 10 points, Mason has four, no other Blue Devil has scored. Ugly.

Maryland has also been led by one player—Dez Wells, who has 14 points... as many as Duke. He's 6-of-7 from the field.

Duke 10, Maryland 17  (11:47, first half): After the first media timeout, 'Sheed made his presence felt. Cook pushed the ball up the court, handed it off to the freshman who drove and pulled up for a jumper, that he swished, from the elbow.

Duke's defense also picked up significantly after the first media timeout, forcing three consecutive turnovers. After the third one of those, 'Sheed added another bucket, recovering after a missed drive to catch a dish from Plumlee and another easy layup.

'Sheed added two more free throws, and he and Plumlee have been the only Blue Devils to score thus far. Overall, the Blue Devils outscored Maryland 8-5 since the last media timeout but looked much better than they did at the opening. It's also gotten the Blue Devil faithful in the game.

Duke 2, Maryland 12  (15:45, first half): Jake Layman put the first points on the board, pump-faking on a 3-point attempt, getting Kelly out of the way and then swishing it. On the next possession, Dez Wells threw home an emphatic fastbreak slam, forcing Coach K to call an unusually early timeout.

Immediately after the timeout?

Plumlee made Wells' slam look like childs' play, making a nice move and throwing one down with authority. That was the only real offensive mojo Duke had in the opening, however, as they turned it over twice and made just 1-of-6 field goals. Maryland, by contrast, made 4-of-8 field goals, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

The last shot before the timeout was a forced floater from Cook. 'Sheed and Hairston were Duke's first subs of the game—'Sheed in particular will need to provide an offensive spark.

Pregame:

Howdy folks and welcome to live coverage of second-seeded Duke basketball taking on seventh-seeded Maryland in the quarterfinals of this year's ACC Tournament.

Starters

Maryland: Pe'Shon Howard, Nick Faust, Dez Wells, Jake Layman, Alex Len

Duke: Quinn Cook, Seth Curry, Tyler Thornton, Ryan Kelly, Mason Plumlee

The two teams split their two meetings this year, each defending its home court.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Stay along here for analysis of the game and follow @dukebasketball on Twitter for up-to-the-second updates.

Here are some pregame notes:

• Duke is an 11.5-point favorite in Vegas. The Blue Devils have covered the spread in five of their last seven games against Maryland, over the course of the last three seasons.
• Maryland is making an interesting fashion statement with its shoes, wearing red ones on the left and black/yellow ones on the right. Check it out:

Maryland making a fashion statement tonight. Red & white shoes on the left and black & yellow shoes on the right twitter.com/dukebasketball…

— Duke Basketball (@dukebasketball) March 15, 2013

• College basketball stat guru KenPom gives Duke an 84% chance of winning the game.
• Duke transfer Rodney Hood is in the house, not always the case for road games due to NCAA restrictions.